Former Civilian Department of Defense Employee Sentenced for Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct with a Minor in Honduras

WASHINGTON—A former civilian employee of the Department of Defense was sentenced to 84 months in prison for engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas made the announcement.

William Curry McGrath, 55, of San Antonio, pleaded guilty on April 28, 2015, and has been in custody since his arrest in October 2014. In addition to imposing the prison term, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the Southern District of Texas ordered McGrath to register as a sex offender and to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term.

From December 2012 to March 2014, McGrath was the director of the Network Enterprise Center at the Soto Cano Air Base in Comayagua, Honduras. In connection with his guilty plea, McGrath admitted that, while stationed in Honduras, he began a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. He further admitted that he gave the girl money, gifts and other items of value in exchange for sexual acts. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Houston Division. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Amy E. Larson of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack of the Southern District of Texas.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.